The sighting of pygmy killer whales ( Feresa attenuata ) in the southern Bay of Biscay and their association with cetacean calves

• Published in: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
• Main Authors: Williams, A.D., Williams, R., Brereton, T.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2002
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Pacific; Killer Whale; Killer whale
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315402005799; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0025315402005799

The pygmy killer whale Feresa attenuata is a poorly understood species that occurs in tropical and warm sub-tropical waters worldwide. The true range of these animals is not well established and there have been reports of them in temperate waters of the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. At 1746 h on 24 April 1997 at 45°15′76″N 30°56′54″W the first of two groups of small robust cetaceans were observed by experienced cetacean observers during a survey carried out aboard the P&O Portsmouth cruise ferry ‘Pride of Bilbao’. At 1820 at position 45°25′96″N 40°00′94″W on the same day a second group of animals of this species was encountered. In both cases the cetaceans were in close proximity to cetaceans with new born or first year calves. Identification information was recorded by the observers and the animals were identified as pygmy killer whales. These records represent the first in the Bay of Biscay and the most northerly records for this species.